


In Absentia

by Friendly Neighborhood FMA Angst Queen (deductively)



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blind Roy Mustang, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hospitals, KMS THIS IS ACTUALLY REALLY CUTE AND I, Maes Hughes Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-06 20:31:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13419069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deductively/pseuds/Friendly%20Neighborhood%20FMA%20Angst%20Queen
Summary: A phone call and a visit was all the proof he needed.Even when he believed that it could never be true.





	In Absentia

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Moistang](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moistang/gifts).



The phone tumbled out of my trembling hands when the words seeped through the receiver, filling my ears with a song I never thought I’d hear that repeated again and again.

_ Sir?  This is Lieutenant Hawkeye.  Brigadier General Maes Hughes has been found alive and is being transported to the hospital. _

This couldn’t be right.  He was dead.  It was why Envy couldn’t fool me.  It was a trick, a trick played by the Homunculi.  It had to be

But Envy was dead.  I’d watched him rip out his Philosopher’s Stone just before the Promised Day arrived.  Even without my sight, I could clearly see the green creature tear it from his throat and crush it into red dust.  Then the image flashed to his disguise as Maes, his silhouette in the fire, how remorselessly I destroyed him.

_ Maes Hughes has been found alive. _

This was wrong.  Something had to be brewing.  I’d been standing there when Edward Elric defeated Father, I burned Lust and Envy to death, I witnessed Wrath wither away, but  _ something _ had to be wrong.  We had to be missing something, even where there was nothing to be missed.

_ He’s being transported to the hospital. _

I dropped to my knees and felt around for the fallen phone.  I could still hear Riza’s voice: “Sir?  Are you still there, Colonel?  Hello?”

“Lieutenant.”  It felt like my throat was coated with sandpaper.  “Report here and get me a transport to the hospital he’s been admitted to.  We haven’t got time to waste, understand?”

“Yes, sir.”  I heard the  _ click _ of her hanging up, but I just dropped the phone again, disbelief reverberating in my bones.  An overwhelming storm of thoughts tore through my mind, so fast they became muddled.  I sat, bemused, on the floor.  Those six words were overpowering every other piercing thought.

_ Maes Hughes has been found alive. _

* * *

 

I hated having Riza guide me around.

It wasn’t her fault, and it wasn’t her that I disliked about it.  It was that I preferred to be my own guide, and being told where to turn and what was in front of me and “Sir, watch out for that thing you can't see !” made me feel like a wolf on a leash.

“There you are, you stupid colonel!” yelled Edward’s voice, followed by his brother’s timid “Hello, Colonel Mustang.”  I smiled.  Alphonse had always been the more polite of the Elric brothers, but he knew (better than his elder brother) that Ed would always be my favorite.

“Fullmetal, Alphonse,” I addressed with a nod before reaching back to grab Riza’s hand.  Despite the front I put on, I was...afraid?  No.  Terrified.  I didn’t know what to expect - was he awake?  Asleep?  Unconscious?  Comatose?  My mind started to flood with thoughts again, and I swallowed past the lump in my throat.

Riza squeezed my hand.  Only then did I realize how clammy her palms were.  “Maes?” she said as my gaze slid to the floor.  A small grunt came from the other side of the room.  “There’s someone here to see you.”

“There’s always people here to see me.”  The voice was unfamiliarly husky.  I turned my head to face it.  “You make it sound like it’s the King or something.”

My lips twitched.  “Close,” I blurted, stepping from Riza’s grasp towards the sound of bed sheets rustling.  “I’ll be there soon, you know it.”

“Roy?”  Now  _ that _ was Maes’ voice.  “You’re - you’re okay?”

Footsteps raced across the room, and suddenly there were arms being thrown around me.  I yelped as Maes went on and on; “Oh my God, I heard about what happened.  Are you okay?  I know you were in the hospital for a while, but...oh God, Gracia and Elicia must be worried sick… Roy, what happened?  I honestly, I...I was scared that you’d…”

I snorted in spite of myself.  “You were scared that  _ I _ was dead?  Maes, you were shot.  We all thought you were dead, you had a  _ funeral _ .  I used to go to your grave and talk to you because I really thought you were gone forever…”

“A fu - a funeral…?  Wait…”  Maes disentangled himself from me.  “What did I…?”

Leaning on the foot of a nearby bed, I explained everything: How we’d all thought that he’d been shot and killed by Envy, how I’d burned so many Homunculi (and faked a death, to his dismay) to find out who had murdered him, what happened during the Promised Day and how I was blinded (Maes paused at this, and I felt him lean close to my face before he let me continue).  I even told him what Elicia had said, how she didn’t understand why he was being “put in the ground”.

By the time I was finished, the room had gone silent except for Maes’ trembling breath.  “Elicia…” he murmured, taking in a sharp breath.  “Gracia...oh God, I...I didn’t realize -”  He sniveled and shifted his weight.  “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know...I don’t even remember how I got out of the booth…”

His voice trailed off, and I felt my way to his shoulder until I could hug him close, resting my chin where my hand had been.  His body was trembling as hard as mine had been when Riza called me.  “Maes.  You’re alive.  I’m alive.  Most of us - everyone you knew - made it out okay.  That’s all that matters.  So quit apologizing, idiot.  It’s not like it’s your fault.”

Maes seemed to melt in my embrace.  He was sobbing, shaking so hard that I could barely hold him until he reached around to grip my jacket.  I heard Alphonse chuckle from somewhere far off, and even Edward and Riza seemed to be taking delight in our reunion.

It was true.  Those six songful words were true.  Having him here, now, that was all the proof I needed.

_ Maes Hughes had been found alive. _

**Author's Note:**

> AH, fluff. Isn't it lovely?  
> Anyhow, this is just a little thing I wrote in class, it's not meant to be long/detailed (or it would be...duh) but I was looking up headcanons and one of them was "Yo, Maes is actually alive" and I was like _bro how did I not think of this before_ so then this was birthed.  
>  Also this is dedicated to a friend I haven't spoken to in a while because group home and, by extension, no WiFi except school (plus DeviantArt wants to be a little fRICKING POOPBAG SO).  
> I hope y'all enjoy!
> 
> "Day where are your other fandom works-" I'M GETTING THERE JEEZ I JUST HAVE A LOT OF INSPIRATION FOR FMA AT THE MOMENT


End file.
